Mexico City -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- A suspected leader of the Juarez drug cartel told authorities he had ordered the deaths of about 1,500 people , a Mexican federal police official said Sunday .

Federal police detailed accusations against Jose Antonio Acosta Hernandez , known as `` El Diego , '' a day after authorities announced his capture . He was one of the country 's most wanted criminals , with officials offering a reward of 15 million pesos -LRB- $ 1.3 million -RRB- for his arrest .

Collaboration with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration led to Acosta 's detention , said Eduardo Pequeno , head of the Mexican federal police anti-drug unit .

Acosta is accused of being a leader of the drug gang known as La Linea , the enforcement arm of the Juarez cartel , Mexican authorities have said .

Pequeno told reporters that Acosta `` said he ordered the killings of about 1,500 people , mostly in Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua 's capital . ''

An investigation points to Acosta as the mastermind behind the March 2010 killing of three people connected with the U.S. Consulate in Juarez , Pequeno said .

More recently , Acosta ordered operatives to hang banners with threatening messages directed at the DEA and other U.S. authorities , Pequeno said .

Juarez , Mexico 's most violent city , shares a border with El Paso , Texas .

Pequeno also accused Acosta of having connections with some of the border city 's most notorious violence over the past two years , including the 2010 killing of a state prosecutor , a car bombing outside a police station and a massacre at a house party that killed 15 people -- most of them students with no ties to organized crime .

Acosta told authorities the targets of his criminal organization included police , government officials , rival drug gangs and civilians , Pequeno told reporters .

Earlier this month , the U.S. consulate in Juarez issued a statement warning `` American citizens to remain vigilant '' based on information it had received that cartels may target the consulate or entry points on the U.S.-Mexico border .

The northwestern Mexican state of Chihuahua , which contains the namesake capital city as well as Juarez , has been a hotbed for drug-related violence .

The federal government has been targeting cartels ' operations , and especially its leaders , in an ongoing battle .

Mexican authorities have arrested several others they accuse of being connected to the slayings of three people connected with the consulate last year .

The shootings occurred March 13 , 2010 , when consulate employee Lesley Enriquez and her husband , Arthur Redelfs , were gunned down as they left a birthday party in their white SUV .

Jorge Alberto Salcido Ceniceros , the husband of another consulate employee , was killed in a separate vehicle .

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Police : Jose Antonio Acosta Hernandez says he targeted police , officials , rivals

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Acosta has been a reputed top leader in La Linea , the armed branch of the Juarez drug cartel

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Mexican authorities say they worked with the DEA to capture him

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Federal police link him to some of the most notorious violence in Juarez